


metal in motion

by GalaxyOwl



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Mech Repairs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-15 03:34:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15404052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyOwl/pseuds/GalaxyOwl
Summary: Then Jacqui pulls Aria’s hand down, lacing their fingers together, and looks at it a moment. “How did that happen?” she says. “Your arm? If you don’t mind me asking.”





	metal in motion

**Author's Note:**

> fatt femslash week: hands
> 
> supposed to be set post-September but slightly pre-finale

Jacqui steps away from the body of the _Regent’s Brilliance_ and closer to Aria, her footsteps clattering on the scaffolding. Aria lays a hand on her chin and pulls her into a kiss.

As they break apart, Jacqui puts her hand on top of Aria’s and leaves it there a moment—the two different metals of their cybernetics glittering under the dim electric lights. Then Jacqui pulls Aria’s hand down, lacing their fingers together, and looks at it a moment.

“How did that happen?” she says. “Your arm? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I don’t mind,” Aria says. She squeezes Jacqui’s hand. “It was on a job. Things went bad, I got shot. You know how it is.” Aria pauses, staring down at the now-familiar limb. “A friend of Cass’ did it—the surgery, that is, not the shooting.” Cass. It’s a name from another lifetime. Aria Joie, member of the Chime, is as separate from Aria Joie, leader of the Righteous Vanguard, as it is from Aria Joie the EarthHome star.

“That’s cool,” Jacqui says, turning over Aria’s hand in hers. “I wouldn’t have guessed it wasn’t a professional job.”

“Yeah,” Aria says with a laugh, “it’s held up well.” Well enough that she can feel Jacqui’s hand on her own—not warm in the way an organic hand would be, but solid and comfortable and right.

Aria looks back up at the mech they’re supposedly repairing.

Speaking of things from another life.

It had been Aria’s suggestion that they patch up her old mech for Jacqui to use, but it’s a task that, as she stands here now, seems impossible. Too full of ghosts.

She turns back to Jacqui, still keeping their hands clasped tight.

“What about yours?” she says. She’s never asked before—it wasn’t as if it was important. But returning the question seems a fair enough time to bring it up.

Jacqui takes a sharp breath and says, “I mean… I don’t know.”

“Oh,” Aria says softly.

“Yeah.” Jacqui looks away from her, back at the _Brilliance_. “For all I know there’s some great story there. But I never went digging, or anything. It certainly wasn’t my choice. It was just conducive to my job that I be able to be super fucking strong, so.”

“I’m sorry,” Aria says.

Jacqui shrugs.

“We should get back to work,” she says, dropping Aria’s hand.

Aria nods. She takes a deep breath. She takes a few steps closer to the spot where the _Brilliance_ ’s arm is splayed out on the scaffolding. There was an issue they were having with the joint in the wrist. That’s what the work at hand is.

This doesn’t have to be a relic of the past, Aria tells herself. It can be just a machine. She puts her hand on the metal of the enormous arm, finds the edge, and pries off the outer shielding. Sets it on the ground and turns her attention to the maze of exposed wiring.

“Any ideas?” she says to Jacqui. And then they’re back to work.

There’s a particular piece of cyber-musculature that’s causing the problem, which Aria finds after maybe ten minutes of poking and prodding and testing the _Brilliance_ ’s arm, which quickly leads to prying off yet more of the outer plating until they’re staring at the interior of one of the mech’s hands. The _Brilliance_ ’s hands are more intricate than is standard; they were built not for holding weapons but for dancing. It turns out the two aren’t as far apart as you might think.

The _Righteous Regent_ is different. Aria’s doesn’t have it here now, but she knows the workings of that mech as well as she ever knew the _Brilliance_ , and the _Regent_ is built for warfare. There are some echoes of the older mech in it—Aria knew what she was doing when she was having it designed, and she knows what kind of fighting it is she does—but it’s a different thing.

Aria pries the faulty piece out of the mech, and turns it over in her hands. It’s bent the wrong way, damaged in whatever conflict it was that took the _Brilliance_ out of commission for good. Maybe all the way back on September.

Aria stares at the piece of metal in her hands. What she says aloud is, “This is going to take a while,” but what she’s thinking about is Rigor, and September, and another life she used to have.

Jacqui lays a hand on her shoulder. “We don’t have to finish it today.”

Aria nods. She hadn’t realized her reaction was that obvious, but then, this is Jacqui. She knows Aria.

Jacqui takes the piece from her hands, and Aria lets her. She stares at it another moment, as Jacqui holds it. She wonders if her own hand has the same component buried in it somewhere, scaled down. Wonders whether her hand was designed for dancing or fighting. Doesn’t have to wonder about Jacqui’s.

Jacqui twists the metal in her hands, more-or-less straightening out the bend. “Here,” she says. “Do you think that’ll do it?”

“I don’t know,” Aria says. “Let’s find out.” She pauses. "We should test it, and then we can… Call it a day, for this particular project.”

“Sounds good,” Jacqui says. She hesitates. “Do you want to pilot it just for the test, or should I?”

Oh.

That’s a good question.

Jacqui doesn’t know how to work the _Brilliance_ yet, but the thought of not just having to _look_ at this piece of her past, but of stepping inside, as well—

“Can we both do it?” Aria says. The _can_ here is genuine. She isn’t sure if it’s feasible.

But they can certainly try. They put the piece back in its place, and then Jacqui follows Aria up through the scaffolding and into the cockpit. Aria takes one look at the space and has to stop. Close her eyes, take a deep breath. Focus on the sound of Jacqui’s breathing, just behind her. The Chime was a long time ago. This is now.

She opens her eyes again. She’s gripping Jacqui’s hand, which she doesn’t quite remember having grabbed, but she isn’t about to let go.

Aria steps forward, presses herself into the back of the cockpit, and Jacqui steps in beside her. It’s tight, but they fit. Jacqui reaches for the controls, and then hesitates again, her hand hovering beside them. “How do I…?”

“Here,” Aria says. She places her hand on top of Jacqui’s and keeps it there as she guides her through the motions to calibrate the _Brilliance_ ’s movements. Then Aria steps back—although not far, their bodies still pressed close in this small space. She lets Jacqui take the lead as they test they arm, a simple series of gestures to make sure it has its full range of motion back.

It works perfectly.

Aria grins. “Good work,” she says. She leans into Jacqui, now, even, buries her face in the cool metal of Jacqui’s shoulder. It’s not comfortable, exactly, but it’s right. Jacqui wraps an arm around her and holds her there, a long, quiet moment. Aria has a hard time believing Jacqui’s arms were built for anything but this.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on tumblr & twitter @confusedbluesky if you want to come shout about fatt with me


End file.
